April has been a busy month for outdoor learning in fifth grade and gardening with 4th and 5th graders.  When I last blogged, our garden club members had started seeds indoors and had wonderful seedlings, but we had to wait to plant outdoors because of the frost predicted in early April.  Last Friday, the 22nd, we finally transplanted to our gardens.  Our flower bed has zinnia and cosmos, our herb bed has chives, cilantro, basil, and mint, and our veggie beds have heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce.  We hope to get mature cucumbers by the end of the year, but the tomatoes will probably ripen later in June.  We will continue to weed and water the plants.  Luckily we had a rainstorm Friday afternoon to give them a good dose of natural rainwater.  There are some perennial grasses that are tougher than weeds to get rid of, but at recess and on gardening days, we pluck some.
The mint is coming in nicely.  We have chocolate mint in the herb box and peppermint in a pot by the fence.  I also have a spearmint plant in my room that students nibble on from time to time.

5th graders went on a walk around campus last week while the weather was nice to observe signs of spring and encourage writing.  Students found out that chive flowers are stronger and spicier than the stem.  We were disappointed that there is no honeysuckle yet. We noticed new plant and animal life, dandelions for blowing ,birds singing and the warm breeze on our faces.  We spread blankets on the ground to just listen, then read poetry.  When I read the lyrics to "Blowing in the Wind" as a poem, the wind started to blow so it felt a little magical.  We also read Robert Frost, who they are familiar with, and various other poems.  It is really hard to get this squirmy bunch to sit and just be, but it was an enjoyable attempt.